Bests & Worsts Reviews from Amazon

The Knowledge Book is remarkably and variously un-knowledgeable. Little things: grammar, punctuation, diction, and sentence structure are very shaky indeed. For example, we learn (p. 74) that Lisbon had the misfortune to be hit by a tsunami and consequently was, not just submerged, but "submerged UNDER WATER" [my emphases]. For example (p. 106), we learn that, "when THEY hatch, THE PARENTS feed the chicks . . . ." [my emphases: who's hatching?] We encounter this sort of carelessness on almost every page. Also, the wealth of spell-checker betrayals demonstrates that the writers don't know and maybe don't care about the meanings of the words they use ("affect" and "effect," e.g., are obviously deep mysteries to them). As a result of this general sloppiness, the reader is greeted by redundancies and ambiguities and instances of vagueness on nearly every page, and must try to ignore this gnat-swarm as he or she slogs along. Medium-sized things: mistakes in matters of fact and matters of logic abound. For example, we learn (p. 108) that ALL mammals bear live young but that SOME (the monotremes) do not. For example, we learn (p. 114) that panda bears are predators although they are herbivores. For example, we learn (p. 66) that "EVERY SINGLE THING [my emphasis] that occurs throughout Earth history leaves its traces behind in rocks." This last pronouncement, were it not almost too stupid to comment on, might earn a sharp contradiction by any competent paleontologist; the fossil record is anything but comprehensive and complete. Big things: many points of information which should be there aren't; conversely, many points of absurd nano-trivia, which should not have been included here (or maybe anywhere), were. For example, nowhere is there mention of Eratosthenes of Alexandria, the genius who first computed the Earth's circumference. On the other hand, we learn (p. 503), about "Diddy's business ventures into fashion and television." Is this something that we "need to know to get by in the 21st Century?" (Permit me to doubt it.) Or is this and much else besides mere pathetic attempts at trendiness? You decide. Really, this fat slick volume is a carnival of blunders. One would have expected better of the National Geographic Society. Anyone who had anything to do with the production of this book--and especially the editorial team--should be ashamed to have been part of such a botched endeavour. The book does, however, illustrate one important bit of 21st Century knowledge, and that is our currently declining interest in the written word.